Ordinary Art Factor [EN]: Chapter 214

“… You know I called you, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you show up?”

“We’re in the middle of a war. I don’t have time to waste on pointless things.”

“…….”

Oho~ Look at this?

“Really? Then those recently upgraded Zerglings spread out to both sides, causing massive damage to the armored units…”

“It was bait. Originally, we were going to lure them in further and then wipe them out with a large-scale Locker attack, but someone ruined that plan.”

“…….”

Uh?

What nonsense is this again?

“Thousands of Lockers were waiting underground nearby, and Ultra, Hydras, and even that person, including myself, were waiting nearby to surround the area with mature towers, but someone ruined that plan.”

“…….”

“Someone ruined a plan that was executed with many sacrifices with a single wrong command. Now that they’ve noticed and retreated, they won’t fall for the same trick again. In other words, the plan to use our formation has failed, and now we’re left with an all-out war.”

“…….”

Eh… So, what I did… Ah, no!

“Th, then. What was the scene I saw?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Y, you said it! You said the scene I saw was right!”

“I did.”

“What I saw coming here from the Primordial Dungeon was your defeat in this battle! Armored units pushing down like before, countless bio units being slaughtered, that giant mature tower burning, and that unit called ‘that person’ being replicated by the Fallen Warrior’s magic replication is the last scene!”

“That’s in the past. More than 800 years ago.”

“Keuk… Wh, what did you say?”

What? What did you say?

What on earth are you talking about!

So!

So!

“I told you from the beginning. You are the one chosen by that person. An arrangement to find that person.”

“… Y, you fucking bitch! Speak properly! You said this is the final battle! This is the last battle! Why did you inject me with a scene from 800 years ago! Wanna die? Huh? Want me to slice your head off?”

I shouted and took out Hongchan hyung’s [older brother’s] greatsword from my inventory and brought it to Sarah’s neck. From behind, I could hear the bizarre screams of the humanoid units.

You fucking bitch!

I’m really going to slice her up if she says anything even slightly untrue, whether she’s subordinate to me or not.

Why am I here right now!

Why have I been crawling around the dungeon floor and offering dark elixirs until now!

But what?

What I’ve seen so far is something that happened over 800 years ago?

You, you fucking bitch!

Then why did you imprint a scene from 800 years ago on me until now!

Speak properly, or I’ll really slice you up.

“You know.”

“Know what!”

“You already know about what has happened so far.”

“You bitch! Is this situation so funny to you? Are you kidding me?”

I put a little more force on the greatsword’s handle, and the blade dug into Sarah’s neck, and red blood flowed down.

“Recite it properly. Or your head will be sliced off.”

“You can’t recognize the truth. How unfortunate.”

“… Stop talking nonsense and recite it in a way I can understand.”

As more and more blood began to flow from Sarah’s neck, I heard the sound of one of the humanoid units waiting behind me hurriedly running somewhere.

Sarah looked at me and opened her mouth with an indifferent face.

“A long time ago, our race was doing well here in Idea. Civilization wasn’t as highly developed as it is on Earth, where you live, but the magic, minerals, and gas we have create new species, nurture them, and eventually return to the magic of nature. And then, based on that magic, the birth of what you call bio units begins again. In that cycle, 800 years ago, there was their invasion.

If Earth is the only planet in the solar system where intelligent life can live, then here in the Phantasm Realm, the twin stars, Idea and Olympus, belong to it.

Our races, whose roots are the same but have been divided over many years, have still been doing well until now… They invaded us from their planet Olympus to replenish the gas they lacked in order to attack other dimensional realms.

They did not recognize the revolving cycle and aimed for limited resources. They invaded this place to plunder the gas that remained with us, and that shameful scene you saw spread throughout the universe, leaving the Phantasm Realm for 800 years. And finally, they found a place where a connection with this Idea was possible, and magic began to be activated on the connected Earth. That’s the Bio Dungeon and the Armored Dungeon. And….”

“… Stop with the useless rambling and tell me the reality. Why now, not then? If you were defeated by them 800 years ago, what is the current battle? And why did you imprint the ghosts of the past on me?”

“I didn’t imprint it. It just exists in your memory.”

“You keep playing with words. Do you really want to die?”

“In Earth, they call it a parallel dimension. In the place you belong to. The copper ring, do you remember it?”

“…….”

“You’ll know if you wear it. About your existence. And about this situation.”

“…….”

Again, is this another trick?

But how do you know about the old copper ring?

Is it a trap? To hook me?

No. That can’t be.

This old copper ring is a reward item from the Primordial Dungeon.

I don’t know in what form the dungeon system distributes rewards, but this is clearly a useless junk item that I threw away after clearing the dungeon, saying I didn’t need wisdom, and the status window shows a question mark….

Why do I feel so uneasy?

Why did I put this unnecessary junk item in my inventory and carry it around?

The reason why I put a useless junk item in my inventory, which is already short on space… is it related to this uneasy feeling?

First, with the greatsword aimed at Sarah’s neck, I summoned the old copper ring from my inventory.

An old copper ring summoned on the floor, emitting a white light.

‘Kikiek. Kueeek!’

‘Kueeek!’

The two humanoid units watching the situation from behind suddenly screamed and collapsed to the floor.

What are these guys doing now?

Are they suddenly crazy?

I put aside unnecessary thoughts, took the summoned copper ring, and put it on my left ring finger. Then,

‘S… Pa… Aaaah!’

With a white light, the world changes and space begins to distort.

* * *

Is it this scene again?

What on earth does the old copper ring have to do with the battle that took place 800 years ago… Uh, uh?

A beautiful woman sitting on a huge chair with a bored expression.

And a man sitting in a fancy chair next to her.

The blonde hair and blue eyes that come down to the shoulders are clearly foreign, but the facial features and body shape are….

Me?

If I wear a wig and circle lenses now, will I change like that?

There’s never been a scene like this before!

The two were smiling with amusement as they talked.

And a humanoid female unit bursting through the huge door in a hurry.

Hundreds and thousands of mature towers visible behind the opened huge door.

The sky opens and blue light pours down, and with a huge roar, the heavens and the earth flash, and a huge number of Zealots chop up Zerglings with long gauntlets, and Zealots are incinerated by the Hydras’ poison needles.

The Dragoons’ cannon fire pours down on the Spire and Hydras, and the siege tank’s bombardment covers the sky. Hundreds and thousands of Wyverns, Guardians, and Devourers cover the rear, piercing through the acrid smoke and red fire net.

A huge number of Thorcans tear through Ultras and Lockers, and the magic mist of the magic worms covers the horizon.

The sky is burning, and the earth is drying up with red blood.

It’s the same.

No, it’s not the same.

There was no man resembling me in the scenes I’ve seen so far, but that’s not the case now.

The giant mature tower is burning, and wingless women cover the Thorcans with their bodies.

And the Fallen Warrior’s replication magic that follows.

The blue eyes of the man who wielded the blue blade and sliced the Thorcans, with huge wings….

The blue eyes of the man who looks like me turn red.

The same beautiful woman with six pairs of wings screams so that the world tears apart, the echo of a ghostly voice echoing from the depths of the sea.

The blonde man aims a blue greatsword at her.

…….

* * *

When I opened my eyes, a pure white light began to leak from the old copper ring.

The light becomes clearer and brighter, passing through my left wrist and rising to my shoulder.

Soon, with a tingling pain, a pure white geometric figure is engraved like a tattoo from my left shoulder to my wrist. And the pain felt behind my back.

“… I greet the consort of the Great Lord.”

“…….”

Sarah kneels down in front of me.

“I, I greet the consort of the Great Lord.”

“Radiant glory! I greet the consort of the Lord.”

“…….”

I can now know without seeing it directly.

The meaning and actions of the humanoid units, no, my species, watching the situation from behind.

The various species felt far away and she made my heart beat.

And I knew who I was and what kind of life I had lived.

“…….”

After a while.

That person Sarah always talked about is sitting demurely in the fancy chair in front of me.

If this is a dungeon and I go out from here and return home, she will probably look exactly like my wife with dyed hair and circle lenses [colored contact lenses].

“… S, so I had no choice but to use the dimensional transfer magic circle. Even if it’s not the same space or the same time, you are definitely my husband. You are also the consort of this Idea. Sob.”

“…….”

“H, how can you not say a word until now? You know how many places I’ve wandered to find you for so long… You know it too. How….”

“… Let’s see after this war is over.”

“My love!”

“Reunion later. Are you going to make the sacrifices of the species in vain?”

“N, no. I was so happy that I….”

“Is the modifier still the same?”

“Yes. It hasn’t changed.”

“I see. A general attack will be launched after 2 hours. I want to rest for a while during that time.”

“Yes… Rest.”

As she went out of the mature tower, Sarah, who was standing around, carefully approached.

“Consort. I am afraid to ask, but did you recognize everything? It will be difficult to win this war if you do not destroy their warp gate. How are you going to deal with the armored units that are constantly being replenished? Before you recognize….”

“Sarah.”

“Yes. Consort.”

“Am I the person who was on Earth, or am I the consort of Idea?”

“… You are the consort of Idea.”

“Is that so.”

“… Yes.”

“Go out.”

“Yes.”

As Sarah hesitated and went out, I took a long sigh and closed my eyes.

2 hours later.

Hundreds of thousands of upgraded Zerglings, tens of thousands of Hydras, thousands of Wyverns and Lockers, Ultras, Guardians, Devourers, Sky Lords, etc. came out of the bio formation and formed a formation in the vast open space, waiting for my command.

But I still have black hair and black eyes.

The blonde hair, blue eyes, and the consort of the Bio Lord that were imprinted on me, or that I remembered, may have been the old me, but I am not the current me.

The consort of the Lord that they were looking for has become the old me who was connected to Earth in many dimensions, but I have no intention of living as the consort here.

King?

The queen’s husband?

So what?

Why would I abandon my family and live here for the rest of my life?

If the old copper ring is a token of her and my old promise here, then I also gave my wife a token of promise with a very small diamond.

It’s insignificant compared to the old copper ring containing recognition magic and the language of the species, but what glory and wealth would I enjoy here after abandoning my son and wife, parents and relatives who were born, raised, and are still waiting for me?

The consort of the Lord with blonde hair and blue eyes that she and they are looking for no longer exists in any dimension.

It’s just that they don’t realize it.

I wouldn’t be able to make them understand even if I told them, but it’s not easy for me to say that either.

If they realize that their consort, whom they have been looking for for 800 years, no longer exists in any dimension, their war will begin again.

Perhaps they will connect new connections to countless other dimensions, and someone with memories from 800 years ago, like me, will be chosen again and come here.

Someone may remain here as the consort, but they will also know that he is not their old consort.

Now, I’m just waiting and waiting.

It’s not me.

But you.

Another half of me in another dimension, another world, who shared the token of promise in that distant memory.

Still, I have to leave the last memory of me coming here.

That way, you can think that it might be better to go back to that time 800 years ago with this memory.

The decision is up to you, the Lord of Idea.

I ended my long thoughts and stood at the very front of the bio formation and began to create the last memory for her.

“Divide the upgraded Zerglings into units of 10,000. Refer to them as Zergling Group 1, Group 2, Group 3 from the left, with 1,000 Hydras positioned below. Assign 100 Ultras to each group, and Wyverns, Guardians, Devourers, and Sky Lords will wait in the sky above the group. Position 100 magic worms in the Hydra formation for each group, and maintain a 300m interval between each group’s formation. After forming the formation, the Queen commanders will report directly to me on the formation of each unit….”

She looks at me with strange eyes at my unit formation instructions.

After completing the unit formation and receiving reports from the Queen, who were humanoid units, right before the departure.

The woman next to me asks me.

“You never commanded like this before….”

“The old me is not me. If you know where I’ve been and how I’ve lived, you don’t need to ask.”

“… Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

“… You! You’re so strange. It’s like a different person, the shell is the same, but there’s a different person inside.”

“It can’t be the same.”

“…….”

“My name is Han Jiwon. Age 43. I’m an ordinary person living in a country called South Korea on Earth. That’s who I am.”

“…….”

“The husband of the Queen of the Idea Continent and the Lord of All Things, the consort of Idea. Acapella de Idea no longer exists. Only that ghost is wandering around.”

“N, no! That can’t be!”

“Historically, if a wise Lord starts to cling to something, has that race been able to exist until the end? Look back on yourself….”

I spat out my thoughts to her and launched the shuttle into the sky above the unit formation.

“All units subordinate advance! Maintain unit spacing. Repeat after me!”

“Subordinate advance! Maintain spacing!”

“Subordinate advance! Maintain spacing!”

The shouts of the Queen of the corresponding unit echoed back from all directions at my command.

‘Dudududu… Dudududu.’

‘Kwa… Chijijik! Pa… Chijik!’

As the bio unit began to move from the base in formation, a lot of magic lightning was created in the formation of the armored units that had approached 5km ahead, and tens of thousands of Zealots and Dragoons were moving busily here and there.

The first thing to deal with is the destruction of their warp gate.

Even if we win this battle once, if units are continuously replenished, we don’t know when the battle between the races will end. We need to cut off the unit supply in the middle and the warp connection between Idea and Olympus to come up with the next plan.

Of course, it won’t be easy to approach the warp gate installed in the rear of the armored unit, but it’s not a battle I’m fighting alone anyway. Furthermore, the way they’re just running forward and fighting each other like they’ve been doing so far is something that even my 9-year-old son would question, not me.

Are they doing this on purpose?

Or a race that has never experienced strategy?

No, that’s not it.

There’s no way they wouldn’t know that, since they’re going in and out of countless parallel dimensions.

Then why on earth?

Was there no commander to give systematic orders?

What was she doing?

As questions began to pile up, I shook my head to shake off my thoughts and moved the unit to 3km ahead before giving the final instructions.

“Zergling Group 1 to 5 turn sharply to the left and penetrate their left formation. Similarly, Group 6 to 10 turn to the right and penetrate the right formation. The Hydra main force waits at the current point and rushes forward when the Zerglings break through on both sides. The Locker unit maintains a 30m interval per unit to support the attack and defense, and the Ultras, Wyverns, Guardians, and Devourers located in each unit move with the Zergling unit. After 30 minutes of battle, all units slowly retreat towards the base defense line. I will destroy their warp gate.”

“… M, my love!”

She looks at me again at my operation instructions.

Judging from her frowning eyebrows and trembling lips, worry, anxiety, and uneasiness coexist.

“Who will do it if I don’t? Don’t you have a reason for choosing me?”

“…….”

“Multiple jobs. Bio unit, absolute command. Absolute rank skill, Sarah Matilda. And… Artifact.”

“……!”

“That must be the reason you chose me.”

“N, no. That’s because you are the consort of Idea….”

“I told you. I’m not the consort of Idea. I’m a human living on a planet called Earth. Instead, I just have his memories with me.”

“M, my love.”

“It’s good to bury good memories as they are. There’s no need to keep taking them out and fading them.”

“…….”

Trembling eyes. Lips bitten tightly. And six pairs of fluttering wings.

If it were my wife on Earth, I would hug her tightly at times like this….

She stares at me endlessly.

I watched her silently, turned my head, and looked at the battlefield.

And,

“All units… attack!”

‘Dudududu… Dududu.’

‘Kieek… Kieek.’

‘Kurarara… Kurara.’

“Zergling Group 1 to 5, detour to the left!”

“Group 6 to 10 to the right!”

“Hydra unit subordinate advance!”

“Wyvern unit advance!”

The Queen commanders of the corresponding units give different orders at my total attack command, and a huge vibration of the earth and a cloud of dust rise.

Watching the upgraded Zergling units that spread out to the left and right, I summoned Caviar.

“Summon all Caviar!”

[Ting! Summoning 534 Caviar.]

“Prioritize destroying the Fallen Warriors, Magic Shamans, and Siege Tanks among the armored units in front. Depart!”

…….

After a while.

‘Pababang… Pabababang.’

‘Papang… Papapapang.’

20 Piramis per Caviar detach from the main body and fall to the ground.

20 Piramis per unit.

About 500 Caviar spread in the sky around the shuttle.

As more than 10,000 Piramis cast a self-destruct skill from 30m above the ground,

‘Kwaaang. Kwaang.’

‘Kuaaang… Kuaang.’