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The magical recording device embedded inside the exploration robot.

We peered into the contents of the device to find out what was happening inside the Sea Wall.

– Wiiiing…

At first, there was nothing noteworthy to see.

All that was recorded was the scene of the exploratory robot moving straight into the Sea Wall.

“…It’s more mundane than I thought?”

Ten minutes passed like that.

But still, nothing was happening.

Aside from the fact that there were no living creatures in the sea, the video was no different from those of other underwater dives.

“…Hmm?”

Then, an anomaly occurred when it had advanced another five minutes.

The shape of a strange person began to slowly come into view.

We focused our attention on the screen with a tense expression.

We were trying to determine if that flabby figure was truly a person.

[…Stop. Only those with the qualifications can enter from here.]

While concentrating on the wobbly black figure…

Suddenly, a clear boy’s voice echoed.

There were people living beyond the Sea Wall.

“Is, is that really a person—!”

“Shh!”

I quickly calmed my surprised guide and waited for the boy’s next line.

I concentrated on the video, hoping he would reveal more of himself.

[…What is this? A golem…? Ha, you sent this kind of thing?]

But we couldn’t see the boy’s figure.

Only a voice mixed with irritation floated out.

– Swaaaaaaat!

And that was the end of it.

Suddenly, the screen started shaking, and the entire sea began to swirl.

A massive tornado erupted underwater, sending the exploration robot upwards.

[Quack! Quack! Ka-donk! Poo-donk!]

That wasn’t all.

Strange phenomena began to occur within the tornado, starting to destroy the exploration robot.

Water in the shape of a cavalry charged at the robot, unknown strong pressures dented the robot’s metal plating, and giant rocks intermittently appeared, slamming into the robot, damaging it in various ways.

Soon, the battered exploration robot was pushed upwards by tremendous force, crashing down from 600 meters in the Sea Wall.

“…It’s a spell.”

As the video ended, Elena was the first to speak up.

She had a highly excited expression, rapidly firing off the next words.

“The Sea Wall isn’t some magical phenomenon, it’s an artificially constructed structure! Purely a spell! How is that possible? Could it be using the spells of the fallen Black Empire? Are the people inside descendants of the Black Empire?”

She proposed several hypotheses with a face full of excitement, much like Archimedes shouting ‘Eureka!’ after entering a bathtub.

However, hypotheses are just hypotheses, and to prove them, we’d have to ask directly.

We had to somehow break through the Sea Wall.

“…It seems like it would be tough.”

But no matter how much I thought about it, this time it seemed tough.

I would have to get through an underwater tornado that even a Sword Master couldn’t survive.

At this level, it was absolutely impossible.

In the end, all that remained was to meet the ‘qualification’ mentioned by the unidentified boy…

“What the heck does ‘qualification’ mean?”

“…Well, I have no idea.”

There was no way to know what that ‘qualification’ meant.

I needed at least a hint to prepare for something, yet, with no information or hints available, there was nothing I could do.

“Hmmm…”

Three days passed like that.

Even after pondering for three days, I couldn’t come up with a way to get through the wall.

I had no idea what the qualification spoken of by the boy meant, and there was no guarantee that even my Strah would be able to fight through that colossal tornado.

“…I’ll try.”

In the midst of this, Elena stepped forward.

However, the method she proposed also had an extremely low chance of success.

“…I’ll try a reverse spell. Then, the Sea Wall itself will collapse.”

Her suggestion was to apply a reverse spell to the magic that formed the Sea Wall to try to dismantle it.

…Right now, that sounded completely absurd.

It was an unbelievable mad spell that held back hundreds of meters of seawater.

Even Elena, the Great Mage, could she really break an ancient spell!?

“…Let’s do that. For now, that’s the only option we have.”

But there was no other option left aside from that.

For now, we had to leave it to Elena.

After all, if we continued like this, we would have to return to the Empire with no achievements.

As soon as we had food, we decided to try everything we could.

“I’ll begin the meeting.”

Thus, I gathered everyone and started the meeting.

Based on the assumption that Elena’s ‘reverse spell’ would succeed, we would decide the manual and guidelines for what the remaining people needed to do.

“A disaster will occur.”

To do that, first we needed to figure out what would happen when the reverse spell succeeded.

To respond to a phenomenon, we must first understand it.

Thus, the phenomenon I identified was ‘disaster.’

What would happen if the sea, rising hundreds of meters high, suddenly collapsed and plunged down to the ground?

No one would be able to survive in this area.

As I reproduced this in ‘hologram,’ everyone’s jaws dropped.

It was practically akin to committing suicide.

“But it’s not that there’s no way.”

However, even if there wasn’t a solution, I didn’t mention it.

No matter how much of a disaster it was, if we prepared thoroughly, it could just end as a happening.

“First, we need to evacuate all fleets to a safe distance before we cancel the spell.”

Thus, the first manual I thought of was to evacuate the fleet.

To ensure safety, we’d send them as far as possible before we canceled the spell.

That way, they wouldn’t be submerged by the catastrophic 600-meter wave.

“It’d be good to get far enough out. An uninhabited island just before entering the Magentani Strait.”

And the place my Dreadnought should bolt to was an uninhabited island outside the Magentani Strait.

We would dock the ship there and wait until the 600-meter wave’s aftermath calmed down.

“Hmm… So, how about the Great Mage? We’ll be fine hiding on an uninhabited island, but… the Great Mage must remain here to cancel the spell, right?”

At that moment, the guide asked a very good question.

What about Elena, who had to stay behind to cancel the spell?

“Just hide in the underground bunker.”

The method is the underground bunker.

We dig deep into the ground to create a bunker and hide there.

This way, we can safely resolve our meals until the battleship returns, and avoid any retaliation that the Sea Wall people might have.

“So, we’ll split into groups. One group will board the fleet to evacuate to the uninhabited island, and the other group will stay in the underground bunker.”

“…”

“…And I think we only need two people in the bunker group. Me and my Master. Just the two of us.”

The group remaining in the underground bunker.

To meet those conditions, one must possess strong military power.

That’s so we can respond if the humans inside the Sea Wall attempt retaliation.

Also, in the event that escape is impossible, we need to be able to run quickly.

This means that one must be skilled in long-range teleportation like Elena, or have mobility secured like me with an underwater jet engine.

In any case, for various reasons, the responsibility for remaining in the underground bunker was to be entrusted to me and Elena.

Besides, making the bunker larger with the resources we have right now is impractical, so making it suitable for just two people to survive for about a month would be appropriate.

“Of course, all of this is only possible if my Master successfully casts the reverse spell.”

However, if the reverse spell fails, it would be useless.

It would be nothing more than an absolute folly.

“…No evidence, but somehow I feel it might be possible. I’ll give it a try.”

In some way, Elena promised success.

Leaving behind her profound words, she began her research.

Thus, two weeks passed.

However, Elena was still focused on researching the spell that would raise the sea, exerting effort into discovering the reverse spell.

In short, it meant she still hadn’t found a sharp solution.

The underground bunker was already completed.

“I found it! I found it!!!!!!!”

While considering a means of returning to the Empire, Elena suddenly shouted with joy that she had discovered the reverse spell.

I had no idea how she discovered it, but she had devised a spell that countered the Sea Wall’s magic.

Truly, she lived up to the title of the Great Mage.

“Phew… then I’ll begin.”

And so, two weeks later…

Having sent the entire fleet to the uninhabited island, we finally decided to cast the reverse spell.

We aimed to dismantle the mysterious power forming the Sea Wall.

Whether it would be possible remained uncertain.

– Paaaah!

Then, Elena began to channel her mana.

As she activated all the mana in her body, blue wisps erupted from her entire being, signaling its manifestation.

– GoOOOOooo…

With her mana activated, Elena began casting the spell she envisioned and the ones inscribed on the ground beforehand, intertwining them with an unknown magic stored in the spell scroll simultaneously.

It was a high-level spell I couldn’t understand or even dared to attempt to comprehend.

– Sarrururururur…

The completed incomprehensible spell started breaking down into particles and seeping into the Sea Wall.

How laborious this spell must be to cast; Elena was sweating profusely, breathing heavily, but the Sea Wall showed no signs of movement.

It seemed too much to topple that wall…

– Kugugegegegegege!

Just as I thought, the ground began to tremble.

Something was about to happen.

“Let’s go to the bunker!”

“Okay!”

We immediately dashed towards the entrance of the nearby underground bunker.

After unlocking the steel door with spell authentication, we descended the stairs to the lowest point.

Then, an open space of about 13 pyeong came into view.

– Kugugegegegege! Kugugegege…

Soon, we each took a seat and waited for the sound to cease.

According to Elena, only a part of the Sea Wall would collapse, but even a portion would still mean a tremendous amount of water would pour out, so it was informed that we’d have to wait quite a while.

“…Shall we go out?”

We waited for nine hours like that.

Total silence enveloped us.

Eventually, we emerged through the underwater passage we had prepared separately.

As expected, the ground we arrived at was filled with water.

A part of the Sea Wall had crumbled, filling the area with water.

“Over there… must be beyond the Sea Wall.”

We gazed at the space revealed by the collapsed Sea Wall.

A human city filled with buildings of unfamiliar architecture came into view.

As expected, there were people living within the wall, having formed a civilization.

“So you were hiding there.”

But just then…

A strange girl’s voice came from behind us.

Frantically turning my head, I saw a smiling girl in exotic clothing looking at me and Elena with a grin.

Suspended in the air like Isabella.

“How…!”

We hadn’t even detected the girl’s presence.

In shock, we hastily entered combat mode.

I was okay, but how was it possible that Elena didn’t sense her presence? What kind of monster was she?

With tense expressions, we glared at the girl, who chuckled softly and said,

“There’s no need to be so wary. At least one of you can live.”

“…?”

“Who was it that cast the reverse spell? The one who brought down our wall.”

At the girl’s question, I looked at Elena.

Elena, equally perplexed, admitted she had released the spell.

The girl smiled and responded,

“That’s sufficient. You’ve proved your qualification. Only a Player can bring down the wall.”

“…?”

…Player?

I couldn’t help but stiffen at the girl’s words.

A Player refers to someone who plays this game, doesn’t it?

But Elena should be an NPC…

“That person is…”

Just then, the girl trailed off while looking at me.

She seemed to be pondering what to do with me.

Eventually, the girl said,

“Just follow me. I need to ask grandfather how to handle this.”

With that statement, the girl flew toward the city.

After exchanging glances with each other, we nodded and followed her.

Unbeknownst to us what would transpire next.

 

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