Chapter 826

〈 Chapter 826 〉 Part 3, Chapter 2, Section 03

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

As we entered the Kingdom of Gaiana, I couldn’t help but worry about my appearance.

If I go in like this, won’t it attract too much Aggro?

I might become Gulliver arriving in the land of dwarves and get attacked. Even if not that, I could draw excessive attention.

Hara is fine.

She’s from Tera and can pass off as being from the Vichnia Kingdom. But for me, with ambiguous origins, it’s important to blend in as much as possible to hide my identity.

So, referencing the form I used to fish for Hydra in the past and my old appearance, I reduced my height by nearly 30cm.

For the costume design, I referenced the male disguises of various heroines, specifically Hwanryong’s version. It had a Boy Scout uniform vibe, but with white, blue, and yellow blending well, it didn’t look strange.

And thus, the completion of Shota-Nyx.

– Big Brother! Please send me to Tera! I’ll show them what I’m made of!

– …Yuinah, you’ve been syncing with Hydra too much; you’re acting weird.

– I can barely stand this either… Aaaah, my lower belly feels all squishy now!

I’m getting good reactions externally.

Even though I can’t change my body in reality, here in Tera, having the body of a spirit allows me to alter myself however I want—thank goodness.

To be specific about height…

“Excuse me, Phoenix Sir.”

“What?”

“May I hug you?”

“No.”

The eye level matched exactly with Hara’s nipples. The slightly protruding part of her maid outfit aligned perfectly with my gaze—if I buried my face there, it would land right into her chest.

“That outfit makes you look like a noble young master… haa.”

“It’s just the uniform effect.”

“Can I call you Master?”

“That’s not bad.”

A traveling young noble from the Vichnia Kingdom and his maid exploring the Kingdom of Gaiana—it’s a good setup.

“You must keep calling me Phoenix Master while we’re here.”

“Are you doing this because you want to be called Master?”

“Then call me Owner.”

“…Actually, I prefer Owner.”

Considering she’s a princess, I changed ‘Master’ to ‘Owner,’ but apparently, she doesn’t like it. Of course, whether ‘Master’ or ‘Owner,’ these titles are just formalities meant to avoid drawing attention. For me, the name Phoenix is enough.

Cuuuuying.

Krishna began wriggling around in Hara’s arms. I took Krishna from her and cradled it like a puppy.

“Krishna seems to dislike you.”

“Maybe it likes seeing you in this younger form?”

“Hmm? So this one’s on that side too?”

“Not really… Um…”

Hara asked me very cautiously.

“Is Lord planning to make that squishy sound with this child too?”

“No. I already did it once each with Kinna-ra and the Unicorn. Two light-attribute beings are sufficient. Now it’s time to find someone else to make the squishy sound with.”

“Someone else? You mean another attribute?”

“Yes. Since we’re in Gaiana, I’ll try finding a suitable earth-elemental spirit here to make the squishy sound with. With light and flight attributes secured, adding an earth element completes the set.”

“Will you eventually collect all seven powers and make the squishy sound with them?”

“Not impossible.”

To completely block chaos, fire, water, and earth powers are necessary. However, obtaining wind, light, darkness, and illusion powers isn’t useless either.

More is always better.

Power, allies, and virgins—the more, the better.

“Let’s go.”

Together with Hara, I descended the stairs leading underground. Unlike before when no one was around, we’d soon encounter travelers visiting the Kingdom of Gaiana, merchants, and other people.

“Lord, will you continue carrying Krishna?”

“For now, it’s safer for me to carry it. We don’t want them rejecting us for bringing a pet spirit.”

I carried Krishna like an unusually designed doll as we descended the stairs. Anyone watching might think I’m still attached to a security blanket.

But fortunately, no one gave me any strange looks.

At first, they glanced at me.

But upon seeing Hara following behind me, they nodded silently and walked past.

‘They bought it.’

The concept of a young noble and their maid worked perfectly. As we descend, I’ll refine the details of our cover story further.

Right, my name is Phoenix. My surname is Hydrasalca.

Phoenix, the heir of the Hydrasalca family.

“Hara, first of all, I am….”

Piiiiik!!

A whistle-like sound echoed from below the staircase. Looking down, I saw guards rushing around, making me wonder if Hara and I were wanted criminals.

‘That shouldn’t be the case…’

Could the priests have distributed our sketches? Did they put a bounty on us?

“…No.”

It wasn’t about us.

This was an issue concerning the city itself.

Uaaaaah!!

Shouts erupted as several small figures burst out from inside. Compared to the other inhabitants of Gaiana, these individuals were relatively taller, while those chasing them were shorter.

“What’s going on?”

“Could it be…?”

“Stop them!!”

Short soldiers started running up the stairs. The larger people looked like escaped slaves from a mine—wearing tattered clothes, their faces filled with desperation.

They’ll be in big trouble if caught.

With such expressions, they climbed the stairs.

“Didn’t expect this to happen so soon after arrival. What’s going on?”

“Looks like slaves escaping,” Hara said.

Indeed, it appeared to be a slave escape. Some still had chains around their necks, and others were panting heavily with handcuffs still on their hands.

The eyes of the pursuing soldiers gleamed with the intensity of someone who would die if they failed.

“…Hara, be careful.”

“Huh?”

“In a situation like this, there’s bound to be…”

Crack! Crack!

The sky split open.

The empty space between the cliffs shattered like glass, releasing unknown energy.

“Wha, seriously?!”

“Chaos Monster!”

“!”

Gurrrr.

A dimensional gate opened, revealing a new presence.

“Ah.”

Long time no see, Zimaron.

It’s kind of nice to see you again.

“…Wait, Zimaron?”

Why are you here?

* * *

“President, it’s a disaster!”

“Yeah, Tera’s in trouble.”

“The S-Rank monster in North Africa has gone missing! There’s evidence of a massive dimensional gate opening!”

“Yeah, it crossed over to the other world.”

“…What?”

Yun Yuhwa calmly sipped his coffee.

“Looks like the Dragon Lords are trying to invade the past again.”

“There’s a possibility. That place is theoretically Tera’s past. To recreate the fallen Seongju and the Seven Officers, they’re sending monsters from the future here.”

Hikari lost herself staring at the scene through Krishna’s eyes.

Kung!

The Zimaron fell on all fours onto the ground.

And the trembling stairway where people were suffering.

“What, how do we stop this?”

“…We can’t. When crossing from Earth to the other side, their power gets sealed several times over.”

Yun Yuhwa bit his lip.

“If an A-Rank crosses over, during the dimensional travel, the loss of magic power weakens them to B-Rank. Same goes for Zimaron—he was almost SS-Rank but got weakened to early S-Rank.”

“But shouldn’t we find some way to stop it?”

Hikari pointed at her wrist adorned with magical gear. Yun Yuhwa grabbed her magical gear.

“Not yet. They shouldn’t realize the existence of beings from that world.”

“But staying idle puts that world in danger. His past too.”

“…It’s not selfishness. It’s not because I want to monopolize the Customer’s image while hiding his past from Baek Hee-a and the others.”

Yun Yuhwa gritted his teeth looking at the unstable dimensional gate.

“There are still those on Earth who wish to use this gate. With the existence of Tera still uncertain, if this opens now, can we truly handle it? If Earth’s monsters cross over, can that world survive without collapsing?”

“I agree. If the existence of the dimensional gate becomes public, humans will attempt terraforming. Then Tera will be polluted again, and the fact that he defeated Seongju will lose its meaning.”

Occasionally, he mentioned that the combined power of the seven spirits would be required to defeat true evil.

However, due to encountering Seongju earlier than expected, he couldn’t gather all the spirits’ powers and ended up fighting Seongju alone, resulting in their mutual destruction.

Humans were saved by Phoenix.

The massive meteor falling from the sky was destroyed before reaching Earth.

Yet, that doesn’t mean the remaining monsters have disappeared.

“What can we do against…?”

Whoosh.

Krishna’s vision spun around once.

And then…

“…Phoenix?”

A dark hero-like figure clad in black armor with a blue phoenix motif emerged.

“Of course! Your appearance on Earth was corrupted!”

Misunderstandings only deepen.