Shin and I teleported to the skies above the ice mountain, leaving Aeges with mom. I had asked Arcana to come home with Eleonore and Zeshia, so they’d be fine.
“If Baltzarond came from outside this world, does that mean the Sword of Three Races did too?” Lay asked, flying up to me with Fless.
“Most likely,” I said.
The golden hilt had been perfectly tuned to Evansmana. It didn’t seem like he was lying about it being the Sword of Three Races’ true hilt.
“We should be far enough away. Let’s follow him.”
We hid ourselves with Lynel and Najira and ascended into the sky after Baltzarond.
“According to the legends, Evansmana’s purpose is to destroy evil calamities. It’s said that the enshrinement god protecting the holy sword was created by the humans, other gods, and spirits of ancient times to sever the fates of calamities. The Sword of Three Races only released its divine light when you first appeared,” Lay explained.
There was no doubt the Sword of Three Races was a holy sword that could destroy the Demon King of Tyranny. Its power against my source of destruction had indeed been unparalleled.
“But why would it have come from outside this world?” Lay wondered.
“Who knows?” I replied.
We flew through the sky and arrived at the Dark Firmament.
“If Costoria and the one-armed man who attacked my liege’s mother are both from the outer world, that leaves more mysteries,” Shin said.
“Yeah. Their timing is strange,” I agreed. “Why aim for the Sword of Three Races and my mother now? There should have been plenty of opportunities before.”
The Sword of Three Races had been stored at the temple of the Hero Academy for a long time, and it would’ve been much better to go after mom before I was born. But neither Baltzarond nor Costoria had attempted that.
“They came to this world just as we noticed the possibility of an outer world. I doubt that’s a coincidence,” I said.
“Does it have something to do with the world having been reincarnated?” Lay wondered.
“It would make sense if they only discovered Militia’s world after it reincarnated, but—”
Had the world become easier to perceive after it was reborn?
“Halt,” I said, holding out an arm. Shin and Lay both came to a stop. “A ship?”
Far across the Dark Firmament, on the other end of Baltzarond’s gaze, was a large sailboat. It was an airborne military ship, with three masts and multiple gunports along the side, as well as armed soldiers visible on board. The ship was overflowing with magic particles that formed a barrier around the vessel—a powerful one.
The only thing I couldn’t tell was how it was being powered. I couldn’t tell by looking into the abyss, but I knew it wasn’t magic. But the ship was sailing through the Dark Firmament freely.
Baltzarond watched as the ship flew up to him before calling out.
“Good work. No residents of this miniature world are in the vicinity, so cancel that boorish barrier and give me your full attention!” he ordered.
The ship’s magic barrier was removed.
“Now behold! I, Baltzarond, have retrieved the blade of the stolen Evansmana!”
He raised Evansmana high over his head, showing the Sword of Three Races to those on board the ship as he flew above it in a loop.
“Glory to Baltzarond! Glory to the god of noble hunts! Hail Hyphoria!” Baltzarond yelled, encouraging those aboard the ship to cheer after him.
“Hail Hyphoria! Hail Hyphoria!”
The people aboard the ship all seemed to be Baltzarond’s subordinates. Everyone wore the same uniform as his, with bows on their backs and swords at their waists. That aside, this man was far more careless than I’d thought.
“We’re going to cling to the ship. Follow me,” I ordered through Leaks.
The three of us flew towards the ship. The magic barrier had been released, and the attention of all the soldiers was focused on Baltzarond. Going undetected, we flew around the opposite side of the ship from where Baltzarond had approached and up from below, allowing me to grab the bottom of the ship with Ygg Neas. Shin held on to my free hand, while Lay grabbed his.
“Set course for Pablohetra,” Baltzarond directed, landing on a mast.
“Yes, sir! But Sir Baltzarond, you need to get down from the mast first!” a soldier replied.
“Hmph. This is the best spot to watch the drift of the tide. Depart.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
As expected, the ship turned to the end of the Dark Firmament and accelerated. But no matter how fast they flew, the order of this world meant they should loop around the Dark Firmament and come out the opposite end.
There had to be a reason this ship could travel outside of the world. While clinging to the bottom of the ship, I strained my Magic Eyes and observed the abyss. There didn’t appear to be any special spell formula in use, but when I looked at the overall ship, I could see the sails were popped open—as though there was an invisible wind blowing.
Something was happening. Something that couldn’t be seen by Magic Eyes, just like Equis’s cogs. Something related to order, perhaps? Either way, if something existed there, then there had to be a way to observe its abyss.
I transformed my Eyes in various ways, searching for a wavelength that matched the invisible power propelling the ship. But before I could figure it out, a silver light started pouring into the Dark Firmament.
The ship flew straight at the silver light. Little by little, the black sky surrounding us started turning silver. The ship accelerated further, and what looked like foamy bubbles started flowing past us.
“What is this?” Lay gasped at the scenery.
Even Shin couldn’t hide his shock, his gaze warily darting around. Somehow, we were in a sea of silver light. Behind us was a gigantic round bubble that released more silver light. Upon observing it with my Magic Eyes, I could see traces of Militia’s magic power. This silver bubble was the world we were in—meaning we were now outside of it.
“Hmm. I can’t reach Misha with Leaks.”
I was connected to her with Gyze, yet the spell was barely functioning.
“It seems things work differently on the outside,” I deduced.
Lay and Shin’s expressions changed. It had hit them; we had entered an unknown world. We didn’t know what was waiting for us, and our adversaries knew far more than we did.
“What’s the plan?” Lay asked.
“We’re here already. May as well make them bring us to their world. I doubt we can just turn back and return to Militia’s world anyway.”
“Please don’t tell me we’re stuck here,” he replied with a smile.
“We can return by stealing their ship,” Shin said.
That was probably our best option. For now, we quietly waited as the ship approached its destination. Outside of the spherical barrier protecting the ship was an endless ocean. But since my Magic Eyes didn’t work well against the water, I could barely see anything. I could only tell all around us was silver light, shining from every angle.
“If the world looks like a silver bubble from the outside, then all this light may be coming from other worlds.”
“That means there are as many worlds as the number of lights,” Shin said. He looked out at the sea, where it seemed the lights were endless. It suggested an unfathomable number of worlds, impossible to count.
“Bwa ha ha. The outer world is bigger than I thought. We’d better not get lost.”
“That would be no laughing matter,” Lay said with a wry smile.
Several hours passed in this way. Eventually, some of the silver light ahead of us condensed into an illuminated path, creating a literal road of light. The ship continued down the road until a large silver bubble, just like Militia’s world, appeared before us.
The ship charged straight into that bubble. This time, darkness filled our vision, and the silver water disappeared. A black sky, just like the Dark Firmament of our world, then appeared. The ship lowered, descending through the sky until our eyes were blinded by sunlight.
The sky was dyed red—sunset. Below was a vast forest, towering mountain ranges, and a myriad of lakes, rivers, and cities. There was no doubt about it; we had arrived in a different world from our own.
“Hey! What is that?!” an angry voice suddenly yelled from above. It was Baltzarond. “Why did no one notice these thieves dangling from the ship?!”
Shin and Lay looked at me. It would’ve been nice if he’d led us straight to their base, but it seemed he wasn’t that unobservant. We should have been hidden with Lynel and Najira, but something must have weakened the spells. Had Baltzarond activated anti-magic?
“I-I’m sorry!” one soldier replied in a fluster. “You gave us the order to praise you, Sir Baltzarond, so...”
“Grr... That’s right. Ugh! No use dwelling on the past. Shake them off!”
“Yes, sir!”
The magic barrier was released, allowing the ship to accelerate into a sudden turn. They were attempting to throw us off the ship, but forcing Ygg Neas to let go would be no easy feat.
Baltzarond tsked. “Stubborn fiends. We’ll just have to respond accordingly. Don’t turn the ship anymore. Full speed ahead!”
“But Sir Baltzarond!” a soldier protested. “The Enigmatic Woodlands are up ahead!”
“If we enter that airspace, we’ll...!” exclaimed another.
“Just up to the boundary. Got it?”
His subordinate gasped. “Yes, sir! Full speed ahead!”
The ship accelerated faster and faster, assaulting us with fierce winds and crushing pressure.
“My liege,” Shin said, his gaze trained on a specific point ahead of us. I followed his gaze to make out tall mountains shrouded by low-level clouds. The ship turned sharply, descending towards the summit, going so low the rocky mountaintops were scraping the bottom of the ship.
“Hmph! Fools. This is retribution for sneaking your way onto my ship!”
“Oh?” I said.
Baltzarond looked up, wide-eyed.
“So in your world, stowaways are frowned upon, but invading a foreign nation on a military vessel is fine?” Shin, Lay, and I landed on his ship with Fless. “If you’re going to visit, show the proper respect to your hosts, you savage.”