As soon as Arthur opened his eyes, he could tell that something was off.
The world was sparkling and glowing.
There was a strange sensation, as if his perspective on the world had shifted somehow.
But within this strangeness, there was a sense of familiarity.
As though this was his original perspective.
Like everything he’d seen until now had been viewed through rose-tinted glasses.
Into Arthur’s field of vision stepped the Chancellor.
The Chancellor’s expression twisted upon meeting Arthur’s gaze.
“What the hell…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Looking at your state now, I don’t expect you’ll be saying that.”
The Chancellor then told Arthur to stay still, snapped his fingers, and brought a mirror from within the room over.
“Here, take a look.”
In the mirror…
“…Huh?”
Arthur’s entire body was glowing.
His eyes especially were shining brightly.
“What, what is this?! Chancellor, didn’t you cancel the magic yet?”
“It’s canceled. The spell has been undone.”
“Then why…”
Arthur couldn’t help but recall an incident from before.
“Didn’t you say this magic didn’t directly meddle with life force?”
“That’s correct. It should have been…”
The Chancellor’s face contorted horribly.
This magic wasn’t something he had developed himself.
It was one he had discovered while searching through countless grimoires for a prophecy.
It had caused no issues during its use until now, so why…
‘Could there be a hidden function to this magic?’
Upon reaching this thought, a face came to the Chancellor’s mind.
“GRGGGH…”
“There’s only one bastard capable of a stunt like this… could that damn fiend have been tampering with the magic!?”
While the Chancellor gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger, Arthur addressed him.
“So what do we do about this appearance? Last time, Lily stopped it…”
“Did something like this happen before?”
“Yes… Lily said it was the life force condensing and becoming visible to the naked eye.”
“Visible life force, huh…”
The absurdity of the statement hit the Chancellor as he examined Arthur thoroughly.
“How did Lily handle it?”
“She sucked in a lot of life force and then sealed the leak.”
“Hmph… A feat I could never accomplish.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Hmm…”
The Chancellor gave it some thought before snapping his fingers.
“If this is life force, maybe we should just completely sacrifice it?”
“Sacrifice… using black magic?”
“Yes, though quite a lot will be consumed…”
The Chancellor eyed Arthur, glowing from head to toe.
“…Though, I suppose you won’t be lacking.”
An ordinary person would display a light roughly the size of their heart.
For most, the light won’t exceed this size no matter how much life force they have.
Even the Chancellor, who had consumed a great elder’s jelly and greatly extended his lifespan, couldn’t extend the light beyond his chest.
And yet this… extending from the entire body?
It was an amount far surpassing the limits of humanity.
‘Could it be from the jelly I ate?… No, if so, mixing with other blood would have diluted it. Then why…?’
The Chancellor felt an indescribable unease learning his descendant had manifested an incomprehensible anomaly.
“I’ll try it then.”
Arthur mentally conjured a scale.
The moment the vast amount of life force was placed on it, the scale wobbled precariously.
KREEEEAK-
Thinking he might have placed too much, Arthur was about to lower it when
KREK
The scale found its balance.
That meant…
UOOOOOONNNGGGG…
The light that had been spewing from Arthur’s body vanished in an instant.
And his vision returned to its regular colors.
“Whoa, it worked!”
“Are you dizzy at all? You just expended a great deal of life force, so you should be tired.”
“Um… I don’t really feel tired though?”
“…Huh.”
An amount of life force so vast it changed into light visible to the naked eye had been consumed all at once.
An ordinary person would have died dozens of times over.
Yet Arthur was fine, and if anything looked even more refreshed.
‘Just how much life force does he have?’
Life force that didn’t run out no matter how much was used was impossible for a physical living being.
Deeming it impossible to determine with his current knowledge after some contemplation, the Chancellor came to a single conclusion.
“Arthur, if I may… ”
Even to himself, the words felt absurd and thus hesitated, but to uncover the truth about this anomaly he had to continue speaking.
“…could I investigate you?”
Upon hearing this, Arthur
“…HUH?”
—
I left the Chancellor’s office feeling dazed.
Though I came in expecting trouble, it feels like I’ve somehow caused much more inside…
The Chancellor’s serious expression suggested this was no ordinary matter.
While I was puzzled by his sudden request to study me, I was fully aware that the phenomena occurring in my body were far from normal and I wanted to understand the cause.
Still, taking precautions, I made him promise not to inform any Outer Gods of the results before agreeing.
The Chancellor then proceeded to sample various specimens from me, including some strands of my hair.
“Whenever the results are ready, I’ll contact you via Twitter. For now, head back to class.”
Following his words, I started making my way back to class when I noticed something odd.
“…Huh? Was this place always like this?”
Fine cracks ran through the surrounding walls and floor.
Touching them, dust fell off.
“Did an earthquake happen or something?”
As I pondered this while walking down the hall, I realized it was eerily empty.
“Huh?”
Class certainly hadn’t been dismissed yet.
Why would there be no students?
Then I passed a bulletin board and saw…
“Huh? ‘Classes are dismissed today due to a sudden earthquake…’ So there really was an earthquake?”
Taking in the cracked surroundings with a mixture of bewilderment, I shrugged.
“What a dramatic day. And to think this was my first day back from leave…”
Attempting to occupy myself with studying to stop thinking about Lily, I found myself missing her as I headed back to the dorms.
Grasping the dorm door, I took a deep breath.
“Perhaps… perhaps Lily’s returned…”
Not knowing when she would come back, it was always possible she could return any moment.
With a bit of hope, I pushed the door open forcefully.
“I’m back!”
Exclaiming loudly as if someone could hear, I stood in the entrance for a moment.
…
Lily who used to run up and tightly embrace me upon my return.
I missed her warm arms dearly.
Gurgle…
My stomach rudely protested demanding food.
“…Now that I think about it, I skipped lunch.”
The tea given to me by the Chancellor smelled nice, but was no substitute for a filling meal.
Washing my hands quickly, I took food from the fridge and sat at the table.
Before eating, I closed my eyes and prayed.
“Today was quite eventful…”
I stopped mid-sentence, recalling the incident with the black magic that sent a classmate flying, and my body glowing like a magical lantern from the life force.
“…Let’s not needlessly worry Lily, wherever she may be.”
Deciding to keep it a secret for now, I planned to tell her everything when she returns.
After briefly summarizing my day, I concluded my prayer.
“I’m going to eat now. Please come back soon. I have so much to tell you.”
Finishing the prayer, I started my meal.
The sound of eating echoing through the dormitory felt rather lonely.
—
The Chancellor, having placed Arthur’s samples into his pocket, decided to casually inquire about these anomalies to Hypnos.
Though quite pitiful as an Outside Entity, with life experience surpassing tens of thousands of times that of the Chancellor’s, perhaps they might know something.
With this thought, the Chancellor re-established the connection with Hypnos.
Then
-WHY YOU DON’T ANSWER AAAAAHHHHHH!!!
“GAH!”
His head rang with an unpleasant noise.
“Quiet! Why all the fuss?”
-The fuss is because of the situation now. Are you even aware of your current situation?
The urgency in the voice indicated a serious situation.
“What do you mean?”
-That tremor earlier.
“That tremor?”
The Chancellor recalled the earthquake that had just occurred.
“That earthquake?”
-If it were a simple earthquake, Nodens wouldn’t have intervened.
“Nodens moved?!?”
The Chancellor’s eyes widened at the news that the leader of the Elder Gods had stirred after such a long silence.
-That tremor? Its influence wasn’t limited to your academy, your continent, or even your planet. The entire multiverse shook simultaneously.
“…What?”
It had not been a simple earthquake.
Though the Chancellor had felt something was off from the life force reacting to Arthur’s light earlier, he hadn’t expected it to resonate across dimensions…
The scale of the matter had grown beyond his comprehension.
To affect the entire multiverse was certainly not an ordinary event.
It would require an Outer God, if not Yog-Sothoth, to achieve such a feat.
-Right now, the Elder God faction is on high alert. Nodens is pressuring them to identify the cause of the tremor!
The Chancellor pondered deeply.
If he revealed the earlier incident to Hypnos, Nodens would inevitably learn of it.
If it became known that the cause was human, and that human was bound to an Outer God, nay Lily herself…
The Chancellor immediately rejected the thought.
There was no way he’d allow his descendant to be struck down by Nodens’ flaming sword.
Until the exact cause of this phenomenon could be identified, it must be kept confidential from all.
“Do the Elder Gods know the exact nature of that tremor?”
-No, only wild speculation exists at the moment. However, as you know, the entities capable of producing such a tremor…
“Yog-Sothoth or-”
The Chancellor’s words stopped short.
A possibility had dawned on him from the name he was about to utter.
‘…Could it?!’
Replaying the earlier events in his head, the Chancellor considered the worst possible scenario.
The life force resonance that occurred resembled a massive heartbeat.
Had the vibration from Arthur’s body served as some kind of signal?
Had it been a trap hidden within the magic?
And had some “Existence” responded to that signal?
‘Prophecy… I need to verify the Necronomicon. But that’s with the cat-‘
The Chancellor suddenly tilted his head in thought.
Arthur had said the Necronomicon had been eaten by a cat.
However, that “cat” was actually Lily…
‘Then does Lily have the Necronomicon? Or was it all a lie…’
At the time, since Arthur’s identity had been unknown, the Chancellor had regarded him with hostility.
Thus the possibility that Arthur lied also existed.
‘I need to ask him tomorrow.’
Though the Chancellor was tempted to go and ask right away, doing so could alert Hypnos of his concerns.
Should even one in a million chances prove his conjecture correct, this was no longer just a matter of Arthur’s safety.
This could be a serious incident affecting the entire dimensional system.
A certain “Existence” sleeping at the center of the universe might be involved.
The Chancellor cut his connection with Hypnos, hoping his guesses were wrong.
And took the gray strand of hair from his pocket.
For now, this much needed to be done.
